As the telecommunications arena continues to proliferate, so does a corresponding need to more efficiently route and manage associated cabling. Networks are requiring more and more racks of electrical equipment, even as network racks are becoming more densely populated with electrical components, and the electrical components are becoming more densely populated with ports for incoming and outgoing cables. As the resulting number of pathways and connections grows and the available space within the rack environment diminishes, the safe and efficient routing of cables to and from the electrical components becomes essential.
Network racks have historically employed one or more different kinds of cable management apparatus for routing and managing dense cabling. D-rings and other single-point supports tend to be relatively inexpensive and may provide significant routing flexibility, but they may lack the strength to support large volumes of cabling, especially while maintaining a predetermined minimum bend radius, and may complicate the re-routing of specific cables. Channel-type managers made primarily of formed and punched sheet metal may be stronger and have greater capacity, but may also be heavy and costly to manufacture, and, without costly coining or other processing, may present sharp edges not ideal for copper wire or fiberoptic applications. Extruded plastic channel-type managers, while generally less expensive than their sheet metal counterparts, tend to be weaker, and, especially when further weakened by slotting or other accommodation to routing flexibility, may deleteriously sag when subjected to larger cabling loads. An example of an extruded duct having cable managing capability is seen in U.S. Pat. No. 3,485,937. Composite managers, multiple-piece assemblies that may include extruded and punched, molded, formed, coined and other types of components, may have various performance advantages, based on the specific combination of components, but tend to be more costly due to the need to assemble the respective components. Published U.S. patent application Ser. No. US2001/0031124 A1, for example, discloses a cable manager formed by an injection molding process in which two identical individually molded halves are subsequently assembled by snap fitting the two pieces together.
As such, there is a need in the telecommunications industry for a strong, less costly rack-mountable cable manager for managing and routing cables on a network rack that provides high capacity and good routing flexibility, while maintaining safe contact points and minimum bend radii suitable for wire and fiberoptic applications.